The Odds for Success are With You

Today’s Affirmation

I refuse to let negative realism become my normal. I make positive outcomes my realistic expectation. I believe good things are possible and my experience confirms it.

It’s one of the great ironies of my work over the years. A persistent reason people give for not thinking positively is they don’t want to be deluded by false hope. They want to be “realistic” and “authentic.” It’s ironic because they don’t see how often they’ve been deluded by their own negative thinking or how they have normalized a negative mindset as their “realism.”

This reveals a mass human tendency to see being negative about us and our prospects as being a more realistic take on life.

It’s a simple psychological defense mechanism that seeks avert disappointment and often responsibility for outcomes we don’t want. If we “don’t get our hopes up,” we tell ourselves, “We won’t get hurt.”

While I’m compassionate to this need to protect yourself, It’s a bonafide recipe for perpetual setback and a recursive loop of negativity. Oddly, that only magnifies the belief that, “See, things never work out for me.”

What if you shifted your perspective? What if you understood deeply that positive outcomes, even by pure chance, are as likely as negative outcomes? When you apply the power of your mind and your efforts constructively, the scale quickly turns in favor of a positive outcome. You literally have direct control over making positive outcomes more likely in your life.

Now, let’s reconsider the calculation. Is avoiding occasional setback and disappointment really worth missing a dozen victories you might have won, if only you hadn’t been too “realistic” to try? I will leave you to answer that question for yourself.

Keep your mind on your side.

Ray